Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water and eat invertebrates or other small animals; however, some are pelagic (seabirds), others frequent deserts, and a few are found in dense forest. Members of this group can also collectively be referred to as shorebirds.
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to forage for food crawling or burrowing in the mud and sand, usually small arthropods such as aquatic insects or crustaceans. The term "wader" is used in Europe, while "shorebird" is used in North America, where "wader" may be used instead to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons.
The screamers are three South American bird species placed in family Anhimidae. They were thought to be related to the Galliformes because of similar bills, but are more closely related to the family Anatidae, i.e. ducks and allies, and the magpie goose, within the clade Anseriformes. The clade is exceptional within the living birds in lacking uncinate processes of ribs. The three species are: The horned screamer ; the southern screamer or crested screamer ; and the northern screamer or black-necked screamer.
The bush stone-curlew or bush thick-knee is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Its favoured habitat is open plains and woodlands, where it stalks slowly at night in search of invertebrates such as insects. Its grey-brown coloration is distinguished by dark streaks, its eyes are large and legs are long. It is capable of flight, but relies on the camouflage of its plumage to evade detection during the day; the bush curlew adopts a rigid posture when it becomes aware of an observer. Both sexes care for two eggs laid on the bare ground, usually sited near bush in a shaded position or next to a fallen branch.
The Eurasian stone-curlew, Eurasian thick-knee, or simply stone-curlew is a northern species of the Burhinidae (stone-curlew) bird family.
The Senegal thick-knee is a stone-curlew, a group of waders in the family Burhinidae. Their vernacular scientific name refers to the prominent joints in the long yellow or greenish legs.
The great stone-curlew or great thick-knee is a large wader which is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh into South-east Asia.
The double-striped thick-knee is a stone-curlew, a group of waders in the family Burhinidae. The vernacular name refers to the prominent joints in the long greenish-grey legs, and bistriatus to the two stripes of the head pattern.
Neognathae is an infraclass of birds, called neognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. Neognathae includes the majority of living birds; the exceptions being the tinamous and the flightless ratites, which belong instead to the sister taxon Palaeognathae. There are nearly 10,000 living species of neognaths.
Presbyornithidae is an extinct group of birds found in North America, South America, East Asia, Australia and possibly North Africa. They had evolved by the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous and became extinct during the Aquitanian age of the Early Miocene. The family contains the oldest known neognath, Teviornis from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.
The Peruvian thick-knee is a species of bird in the family Burhinidae. It is found in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and pastureland. It is a ground-dwelling bird and feeds on insects and small animals.
Burhinus is a genus of birds in the family Burhinidae. This family also contains the genus Esacus. The genus name Burhinus comes from the Greek bous, ox, and rhis, nose.
Teviornis is an extinct genus of presbyornithid which lived during the Maastrichtian stage, around 70 million years ago. One species has been described, T. gobiensis. It is the oldest known neognath and its fossils are collected from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.
The Indian stone-curlew or Indian thick-knee is a species of bird in the family Burhinidae. It was formerly included as a subspecies of the Eurasian stone-curlew. This species is found in the plains of South and South-eastern Asia. They have large eyes and are brown with streaks and pale marks making it hard to spot against the background of soils and rocks. Mostly active in the dark, they produce calls similar to the true curlews, giving them their names.
Esacus is a genus of bird in the stone-curlew family Burhinidae. The genus is distributed from Pakistan and India to Australia. It contains two species, the great stone-curlew and the beach stone-curlew.
The Tingamarra Fauna is associated with the early Eocene Murgon fossil site, and contains the earliest known non-flying eutherian, passerine, trionychidae turtles, mekosuchine crocodiles along with frogs, lungfish and teleost fish in Australia. The Murgon fossil site is located near Kingaroy in south-east Queensland.
Wilaru is an extinct genus of presbyornithid from Australia during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, around 24-22 million years ago. It was originally classified as a stone-curlew, but subsequently it was argued to be the youngest member of the extinct family Presbyornithidae instead, and the discovery of a similar Eocene presbyornithid Murgonornis archeri also supports this taxonomic assignment. The type species is Wilaru tedfordi, and the second species is Wilaru prideauxi.
The St Bathans fauna is found in the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group of Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It comprises a suite of fossilised prehistoric animals from the late Early Miocene (Altonian) period, with an age range of 19–16 million years ago.
The Odontoanserae is a proposed clade that includes the family Pelagornithidae and the clade Anserimorphae. The placement of the pseudo-toothed birds in the evolutionary tree of birds has been problematic, with some supporting the placement of them near the orders Procellariformes and Pelecaniformes based on features in the sternum.
Hesperoburhinus is a genus of birds in the stone-curlew family Burhinidae. The genus is distributed in Middle and South America. It contains two species, the double-striped thick-knee and the Peruvian thick-knee.
